Pastor gets lengthy prison term for sexually assaulting teens

Michael Shum

A 51-year-old pastor at a children's home was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison yesterday for sexually assaulting six male students while they were drugged and asleep four years ago.

Jackson Choi Kin-hang, also an English tutor, pleaded guilty to 16 counts of indecent assault, seven counts of administering drugs to facilitate unlawful sexual acts and one count of possession of child pornography.

During sentencing yesterday, High Court Judge Amanda Jane Woodcock criticized Choi for targeting children from broken homes who lacked adequate adult care, as she put him behind bars.

"After spending years with them and gaining their trust, [Choi] invited them to spend the night with him and drugged them in order to sexually assault them," Woodcock said.

"This is acting like a predator, which is a premeditated crime and a breach of integrity."

The court earlier heard that the six victims - now aged 18 to 24 years old - met Cho when they were between 13 and 16 years of age through English tuition classes, church activities and gatherings at the children's home.

Choi maintained contact through the gatherings and invited the six victims to spend the night with him separately in a hotel room or at his home between November 2020 and August 2021.

He gave four of them a sleeping pill - which he claimed was a health supplement - and then started sexually assaulting them after they had fallen asleep.

The acts included oral sex, touching and kissing their toes, thighs, buttocks, lips and forehead.

Choi was found to have 32 videos of the assault.

Five of the victims had no idea they were being sexually assaulted in their sleep while the other, identified in court as X, woke up and immediately called the police.

Choi later admitted under caution that he used an improper way to satisfy his sexual needs.

Police officers later found video footage of the six victims being sexually abused, along with child pornography, on his computer hard disk.

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com